


Not the stuff for fairy tales

by Iseegoodinyou



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/M, Late at Night, Love, Near Future, Normal Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 06:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8275850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iseegoodinyou/pseuds/Iseegoodinyou
Summary: Another late night oneshot featuring our Captain Swan struggling to adapt to a normal life. Set after the events of season 5 (there are a few references, so don't read if you haven't seen it yet), but season 6 spoiler-free.





	

Emma woke up with her cheek resting on the soft cotton of her pillow and her long blond hair covering her face. She didn’t open her eyes straightaway. She didn’t move a single muscle. Everything around her was still and silent. No earthquake was shaking the walls of her house, no one was screaming in pain, no one was shouting her name with despair in their voice. Everything was so quiet it felt unreal.

Emma breathed in slowly in her pillow, taking in the familiar scent of clean laundry and… _Killian_. Immediately her mind filled with images of him. His piercing blue eyes looking at her like she was some kind of miracle. His deep voice, whispering in her ear. His black leather jacket slowly sliding off his broad shoulders and lying forgotten on the floor, beside the bed. His fingertips, brushing her skin. His lips, curving into a smirking smile and then softly kissing hers…

Emma’s heart skipped a beat and then it started fluttering madly in her chest, like a trapped bird trying to escape. She shivered, despite the warmth radiating from her heart to the rest of her body. Her lips curved up into a sweet smile, without her telling them to.

She was about to open her eyes and whisper his name, when a thought come, unwanted, to her mind: _What if it’s all just another dream?_

It had happened before… for days she had refused to close her eyes at night, because if she did, she would dream of him and she would wake up hours later in tears with the realisation that he was gone, forever.

More images appeared in front of her closed eyelids. Images that Emma had tried to bury into the deepest part of her brain because they were too painful. Killian’s face, covered in his own blood, his body chained up over the river of lost souls. Killian’s screams of pain, his heart crushing in Rumpelstiltskin’s hand. Killian’s broken voice, asking her to let him die as a hero, the sharp point of Excalibur inches from his heart. Killian’s tears, rolling down his cheeks, his hand leaving hers when she had to run and leave him in the Underworld.

Emma’s stomach dropped like that time she was falling through the portal to a past Enchanted Forest. All the warmth left her body at once. Fear and pain threatened to choke her up. She felt the tears burning her eyes behind her eyelids. She squeezed them shut and forced her body to stay still. She didn’t want to wake up and discover the truth. She didn’t think she could handle the pain of waking up one more time in a world without _him_.

She forced herself to calm down, to push away the fear and think rationally.

He was not dead. Belle had stopped Rumpelstiltskin before he could crush his heart. Excalibur had killed him, but she went to the Underworld to save him. And even if she couldn’t, even if she had to leave him there, he came back, for her. She knew it. Deep down in heart she knew it was not just a dream.

She let out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She inspired again, deeply. The scent of him was there… that mixture of sea water, spice and leather that had the power of turning her on in a way the most powerful love potion in any world could never do was real. And if his scent was there, he had to be too.

She finally opened her eyes. It had to be still very early in the morning, according to the faint, greyish light filtering through the closed curtains. The sheets were all tangled around her legs. On the other side of the bed, another body was lying on its back, the sheets covering it halfway up to its chest. She could only see the silhouette of it in the dim light: its broad shoulders, the line of its jaw, its hand lying open next to its face… she could recognise Killian’s body among millions. His chest was rising and falling slowly and regularly. He was still asleep.

Emma sat up quietly, trying her hardest not to wake him. She leaned closer to him, unable to take her eyes off his face. He looked just like a miracle now. His hair was all tangled and messy. His eyes were closed, his long black lashes brushing his cheekbones. His lips were slightly parted and curving in a half smile.

Emma wondered what he was dreaming about. It had to be something good, because he looked at peace. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw him like that, so relaxed… almost vulnerable. She felt the overwhelming urge to touch his face, slide her fingers through his silky dark hair.

Her hand moved slowly closer. She was less than an inch from his forehead when he suddenly opened his eyes.

Everything happened so quickly that she didn’t even have time to react. He sat bolt upright, re-creating space between them, his relaxed expression gone from his face, replaced by wild-eyed surprise. His left arm flew toward Emma’s face and she felt the air brushing her skin on her throat. It took her a split second to realise what could have happened if he still had his hood attached to it. She shivered, her body suddenly freezing cold. Everything was still, only her hand moved slowly up to hold her throat.

The light flickered on, as by magic. But no, it was not magic. Killian turned it on.

They stared at each other, both green and blue eyes wide with shock and fear, despite the sudden change of illumination.

It took Killian another second to realise where he was and what had just happened. He closed his eyes, his right hand coming up to cover them, as to cancel a bad image from his mind. He relaxed his shoulders ever so slightly against the headboard and let out a long breath of relief. He slid up his hand to brush his hair away from his forehead.

“Bloody hell, Swan…” he whispered, his voice trembling. He opened his eyes again, looking at her, his expression full of concern.

Emma was still holding her breath in shock. She tried to say something: “I… I’m sorry… I didn’t… you startled me!”

Killian’s eyes became as big as saucers. “I startled YOU?! Hell… I woke up with a pair of eyes inches from my face, I thought someone wanted to kill me or something… thank the gods I listened to you and I took off my bloody hook last night…”

He shook his head as to get rid of a dreadful thought and then he locked eyes with her again, taking in the look of fear on her face and her hand still protecting her throat.

“Are you ok?” he asked, his voice gentle.

Emma relaxed a bit and she finally dropped her arm in her lap. “Yes, I guess…” she said “I’m just a little shaken…”

Guilt filled Killian’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…” He frowned, breaking his apology mid-sentence. “What the hell were you doing, anyway?”

Emma blushed fiercely, but she didn’t look away from him. “I was watching you…”

Killian’s eyebrows disappeared in his hair. “You were watching me… sleep?”

His surprised expression quickly changed to a flirting one. His lips parted in a mischievously gorgeous smirk and he said: “I guess I am so devilishly handsome that you can’t take my eyes off me, aye?”

Emma couldn’t help but smile back. The fear was all gone in a second. She punched him on the shoulder, not too hard, and teased him: “I wouldn’t go that far now, Captain…”

Killian laughed loudly. “Well, I seem to recall you didn’t think that a few hours ago!”

Emma blushed again. “Shut up, you!”

She tried to punch him again, but he grabbed her wrist, sliding his hand on her skin to interlock his fingers with hers. He brushed her palm with his thumb. She lowered her eyes on their holding hands and her expression became serious again.

Killian’s smile died on his lips. “What is it, Swan? Tell me… and don’t say nothing, I know when something is bothering you…”

Emma didn’t need to look up at him, she could still feel his scrutinising eyes on her, she could hear the concern in the tone of his voice.

He squeezed her hand slightly to urge her to speak.

She fiddled with the sheets in her lap. “It’s just… I don’t know… after all that’s happened to us since… well… _always_ … I needed to make sure you were real. You looked so peaceful and vulnerable in your sleep, I just wanted to touch your face, to reassure myself that you were not just another dream. I guess I’m still not used to a normal life, without villains lurking in the dark to ruin everything…”

Killian’s hand let go of hers and it moved to her face, where it rested on her cheek. Emma leaned into the touch and she raised her eyes to meet his. Killian’s expression was sad and pained.

“Oh, Swan… I’m here, right here. And I swear this is real. I am real. And I will never ever leave your side again, I promise. You know that I didn’t mean to… well…” He hesitated. He couldn’t find the right words to say it out loud.

Emma didn’t wait for him to find the words. She wanted to take away the pain from his eyes as quickly as possible.

“Hook, stop apologizing. I know you didn’t mean to kill me! That was my fault, I shouldn’t have startled you like that. I know you love me…”

He slid his hand behind her head and pulled her in, closer. His forehead touched hers and his blue eyes were so deep she could drown in them.

“Killian…” he said “It’s always Killian for you. And yes, Emma, I love you. I love you with all my heart. But I’m still a pirate, you know… I’m used to waking up in the middle of the night with someone wanting to kill me or steal my ship or both, not with my girlfriend wanting to touch me. You’re not the only one who has problems getting used to our new life. So, until this changes, if ever, please make sure I take off my hook every time before we go to sleep, just in case…”

Emma smiled and nodded. “Deal” she replied.

Then she leaned in, relaxing against his body, her cheek on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, a quick, sweet brush of his lips on her skin.

They stayed like that for a long moment, Emma playing with the skull charm dangling on Killian's chest. She broke the silence with a soft whisper: “So, the princess fell in love with the pirate… not really the stuff for fairy tales, uh?”

Killian chuckled, his chest trembling slightly under Emma's weight. “Why, is there a problem, love?” he asked.

She looked up at him, throwing both her arms around his neck. She smiled broadly at him. “Nope. Not at all. Charming princes on white manes have never been my type…”

Killian leaned in, just inches from her face, his eyes locked on hers.

“Thank the gods for that…” he whispered on her lips.

_The end_

**Author's Note:**

> Have you found the little tribute to the first fandom that made me want to write fanfictions about a lifetime ago? Let me know! That was completely unintentional, by the way. I wrote the piece and it was only after reading it about ten times that I realised I'd read that phrase somewhere else. It took another couple of times before I realised where it came from! Some stories DO stay with us forever...


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